In April 1899, as armies from various countries arrived in the Americas one after another, it could be said that the war preparations for the coalition forces were all over, and they were just waiting for Spain to provoke a war. During this period, Arison never stopped his peace efforts and mobilized American capitalists.
They used all the resources they could use in Europe, lobbying desperately from the government to the private sector, including asking Britain and France to help mediate, and even offered to give Spain $50 million in economic aid. In short, they tried their best to delay the war as long as possible.
It's a pity that compared with the oil in the Caribbean, the profits from the sugar industry, the drug trade, and the gold in Alaska, their efforts are not worth mentioning. Besides, even if Canovas wanted to agree at this time, he didn't have the guts to do it, so he just kept walking in Spain.
At the same time, the governments of Germany, Russia and China have publicly announced that if there is a war between Spain and the United States over the ownership of Florida, then as allies in the Caribbean, they will all fulfill their responsibilities as allies.
"The contract is sacred, even if it requires life to maintain it." In the words of Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Quan.
On April 20, the Spanish government officially issued an ultimatum to the United States to return Florida by May 1, otherwise the Kingdom of Spain would take back its territory by force.
The U.S. government was actually in chaos at this time, and there was controversy in Congress over whether to protect Florida. Although the United States would not necessarily lose this war, the Navy would definitely lose. There was no suspense about this.
Party members saw it clearly. In fact, in order to avoid being completely annihilated in Key West, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet had already retreated to Hampton Anchorage, which was later the Norfolk Naval Port. This was equivalent to abandoning Florida.
The blocking of the strait directly put the Spaniards on land to fight.
Although the army has a great chance of winning, a large number of casualties are inevitable, especially until now, the poison gas bombs in the hands of the Spanish are still a huge and unsolvable threat. Even if the soldiers are equipped with gas masks, mustard gas is not just a thing
Gas masks are effective, especially in a hot environment like Florida. In the last war, more than 10,000 US soldiers suffered permanent injuries due to skin contact. Their tragic situation is still unforgettable in the minds of Americans.
The Americans are also studying this thing. After all, Yang Feng has announced that he will no longer spread this kind of weapons to any country. However, the three European countries with production capabilities, Britain, France and Germany, will not sell to them. Even the UK will not sell to them. Queen
Your Majesty, how many more of her traitors will die in the New World! Although the mustard gas invented by the Germans in 1886 is not an advanced technology, from its own research to large-scale industrial production, especially when it has to be installed
Inserting the shells. This will take some time, so the United States has not actually put it into production yet.
Even if Florida could be saved without poison gas bombs, tens of thousands of people would probably be killed and injured in the end. In addition, there would be economic losses, which is particularly terrible. Just think about it and you will know that the fleets of the four countries will definitely attack American ports and block American foreign trade.
This war will severely damage the US economy, which has just begun to recover. Obviously, even selling out all the oranges in Florida will not be able to make up for this loss. In order to keep this land with little economic benefit, we have to pay such a high price.
Whether it is worth it is obviously a question that must be considered for the United States, especially the coastal and northern states.
But it won’t work if we don’t protect it. It will be a terrible start. The cohesion of the federal country of the United States will be completely lost. Doesn’t everyone just want to stick together for warmth? Now that the crisis has really come, if they act treacherously, then I am afraid that all states will desert.
, amidst the quarrels and hesitations, the Americans finally met the deadline of the Spanish ultimatum, gritted their teeth and Congress finally made the decision to refuse.
On May 1, the Spanish government officially declared war on the United States on the grounds that the U.S. government refused to return Florida. Within less than twenty-four hours, the German Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Chinese Empire successively declared war on the United States on the grounds of fulfilling their alliance obligations.
"This news is very regrettable. Although I myself just took a bullet in the United States. But from the bottom of my heart, I still have a deep friendship with the United States. Even though I almost died in New York, I still forgave the U.S. government. After all, it was just
It's just an accident, just a tragedy. But this friendship is only personal to me and cannot affect the decision made by Congress. Since Congress has decided to fulfill the obligations of an ally, even if I am the emperor, I can only accept this result. After all
I am the monarch of a constitutional monarchy, not the emperor of a dictatorship and feudal empire." Emperor Yang, who was lying in the sun at Peace Harbor, told the New York Times reporter who interviewed him with a look of regret that the broken bone was
It's already over, now I'm just waiting to watch the excitement.
In fact, this war did not affect his image in the eyes of the American people. This has a lot to do with his good disguise. Especially when he was seriously injured in an assassination, he still forgave the U.S. government's mistakes. This is even more surprising.
Those young Americans who were fascinated by his novels, poetry collections, movies and his wife's increasingly popular shoujo comics still have a fanatical admiration for the enemy emperor.
However, this war still had a certain impact on the Chinese in the United States. Except for Texas, other states experienced varying degrees of anti-Chinese waves, which also accelerated the migration of Chinese Americans to Texas. Anyway, Texas is
He will not be anti-Chinese in any way. Emperor Yang has almost become the emperor of this state. The employees of Yang's consortium and their families already account for 50% of the total population of this state, and the proportion is increasing day by day.
Expand, who blindly dares to offend the Chinese? Besides, the Chinese are so easy to offend. Umbrella Company has more Chinese mercenaries than white people. These are old executioners who kill without blinking an eye, especially those hidden in the dense forest.
The Wolfsburg headquarters was a legendary lair of terror. Of course, no one except Emperor Yang knew that there was enough oil underneath to flood Texas.
Not only was Texas open to accepting Chinese from various states, but Texas senators also openly opposed the war in Congress. The Texas governor also announced that the Texas National Guard would not participate in the battle in Florida. Of course, if the enemy
Invading Texas, they would defend their land. Texas' choice cast a shadow over the war from the beginning, and in return, the coalition also publicly promised not to
Texas for any kind of attack.
On May 4, the Army Headquarters of the Four-Power Allied Forces was established in Havana, with German Army Lieutenant General Moltke as the commander. He was fully responsible for the operations in Florida and commanded an army including 100,000 Spanish troops, 20,000 German troops, and 20,000 Russian troops.
An army and naval command of 140,000 people was established in Santiago, with Spanish Admiral Cervera as commander. The command included three Spanish battleships, three Russian battleships, two German battleships, and an additional fifteen ships of 6,000
A huge fleet composed of large armored cruisers of over 100 tons, twenty armored cruisers of over 4,000 tons, 12 protected cruisers, 48 destroyers, and 12 large landing ships, which can support a division-sized beach grab.
Landing operations, and port landings of two divisions.
Across the Strait of Florida, the U.S. Army's Florida Theater Command was also established in Atlanta, with Lieutenant General Merritt, whose performance in Cuba was just okay last time, as the commander. Because the major cities in Florida are all on the seaside and can easily be intercepted, Americans dare not
Putting the headquarters there, Merritt had six divisions, but the current American divisions have nothing in common with the last war.
During the Spanish-American War, the basic organization of the U.S. Army was still regiments. It was only temporarily organized into divisions and corps during wartime. There was no truly modern organization. After the war, due to failure, it began to be reorganized after the European Army. However, the Americans
They have done a very thorough job in this regard. Even Yang Feng in other countries only has a division of 18,000 people. In the United States, a division has 20,000 people. It has two three-regiment infantry brigades plus an artillery brigade, and the division has another
The cavalry regiment can be said to be number one in the world in terms of the number of artillery pieces and machine guns.
However, due to the production capacity constraints of Raytheon Company, only these six divisions have completed the replacement so far. The other divisions still use Springfield, Krag and other rifles. After all, even if production is at full capacity, Raytheon Company can produce in less than two years.
The production of more than 100,000 rifles, more than 1,000 machine guns, more than 5,000 submachine guns, more than 1,000 mortars, and more than 500 cannons in a short period of time is already commendable, not to mention that some weapons need to be imported from China and
Parts sourced from Sweden.
In fact, the highlight of this war that attracted the most attention from the media of various countries was that almost all the main weapons of the warring parties, from the navy to the army, were produced by the Yang Consortium or authorized by the Yang Consortium. It was only then that countries around the world discovered a real arms empire.
He had already dominated the world inadvertently. No wonder the whole world was thrown into chaos as soon as something happened to Emperor Yang. Being able to reach this level of success as a human being can be said to have reached the pinnacle of success.
At this time, in far away Africa, the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Sir Milner, the enemy of Great Britain, and the President of the Transvaal Republic, Kruger, also started negotiations on the rights of British expatriates in Bloemfontein.
During the last negotiation, a large number of British troops are being transferred to this barren but golden land, and all adult men in the Transvaal and Orange republics have begun to arm themselves and prepare to use force.
To defend their homeland, the Second Boer War is imminent.